Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing this appeal to obtain a CR in DEVS 392 as opposed to the grade I have received due to extenuating circumstances. In early November, my mother was admitted to the hospital because she couldn't walk; upon diagnosis, it was discovered that she has osteoarthritis. Her inability to walk was temporary but this diagnosis continues to make her suffer in a different way every day.

This situation was unexpected and is having an immense negative effect on my family. My mom cannot perform daily activities and my family's only source of income is my father's job, so he could not take time off to help her. In addition, my parents have been having legal issues, in regard to both a car accident and slip and fall accident, which is another workload they need assistance with. My only other sibling is my brother who is in fourth year full-time university studies. It was too much work for him, so I took on as much as I could from Kingston. I needed to spend lots of time making phone calls to stay updated with my mom's health issues, what the doctor was telling her, and stressful financial issues. I also had to spent time helping my parents draft emails to their doctors and lawyers.

The stress of these extenuating circumstances prevented me from attending some classes. Being up so late to discuss issues with my family and the subsequent stress has negatively impacted my sleeping patterns, leaving me unable to attend class. DEVS 392 follows from 2:30-5:30pm, and I couldn't bring myself to go to six hours of class nonstop, only to fall asleep in the class. It shatters my confidence when I know I am capable but can't demonstrate my abilities due to something that happened in my family that was out of control.

Prior to this issue, I had been struggling in these classes and missed some classes. My intended goal was to work harder in November; I quit two extra-curricular clubs prior to this incident, and also got permission from my supervisor to lower my workload as a Residence Don (which is how I financially support myself in order to fund my living situation at Queen's) to dedicate more time to this course. I planned to give myself more time to attend office hours to submit academic material of higher quality to receive better grades. However, my extenuating circumstances have prevented me from being able to follow this plan, and additionally, they have failed to allow me to do the bare minimum for these courses.

I asked my professor for an extension the day before an assignment was due (the assignment was to be completed within a 24hour period) and was told this could only be granted once I got documentation from the Faculty of Arts and Science. While completing this assignment, I was affected by my extenuating circumstances, limiting my time and abilities. I submitted whatever I could within the allotted time period, and the next day had an urgent appointment with Student Wellness Services at Queen's University where I was provided documentation to confirm my extenuating circumstances which had been occurring from November 1st and were still ongoing.

Upon providing this documentation to my professor, I asked if I could redo the assignment as it was completed under duress and I had supporting documentation. My professor said I could not resubmit the assignment as the teaching assistant had already marked it. I then asked for an extension on the final paper, as my extenuating circumstances affected my ability to attend class regularly and when in attendance it was difficult for me to listen attentively, stay focused, and participate sufficiently. I asked to submit my paper on the last day of the semester which my documentation outlined, and my professor said I needed to submit it earlier in order for the teaching assistant to grade it and submit the grades on time. My professor provided me with an alternative due date which severely conflicted with my other deadlines, and since I had already fallen behind in the material, I had an insufficient amount of time to catch up with the material and complete the research required to write an adequate paper, let alone a paper that reflected my academic abilities. My other professors were understanding and gave extensions, and I was able to complete the assignments for these courses and get grades nowhere close to the one I received in this class.

Due to all the reasons outlined, I am appealing this course and asking for a CR. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,

Pravieena Gnanakumar